Local construction boom brings big opportunities to Orlando

This paid post is produced by Motiv8 Agency on behalf of Orange Technical College. The newsroom or editorial department of Tribune Publishing was not involved in its production.

This paid post is produced by Motiv8 Agency on behalf of Orange Technical College. The newsroom or editorial department of Tribune Publishing was not involved in its production.

(Shutterstock.com)

Orange Technical College is helping to build Florida’s future. Literally.

Thanks to a partnership with the Academy of Construction Technologies that sends high school students to work with journeymen in the trades as part of an eight- to 10-week training program that quickly readies residents looking for a new career, Orange Technical College is providing a pipeline of personnel for all facets of the construction industry.

Good thing, too. Construction, hit hard during the Great Recession, is back. According to the most recent figures provided by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 455,000 people were working in the Florida construction industry as of August 2016, up from less than 335,000 in August 2011. In the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford region, that number is nearly 72,000.

“The construction industry in Florida was really hit hard during the recession in 2008 and 2009, and a lot of people left the state to find opportunities elsewhere,” said Debbie Rodriguez, owner-operator of Sanford-based staffing agency Quality Labor Management and president of Winter Park consulting service Competitive Edge Partners and Consulting LLC. “As a result, we don’t have enough people working in the trades right now to fill the jobs that need to be filled. Orange Technical College is doing a wonderful job in getting us where we need to be.”

Nancy Merced, executive director at the Academy of Construction Technologies, shared similar sentiments.

“Orange Technical College has been instrumental in aligning the school’s curriculum with construction needs and training,” she said. “They have been responsive to industry needs and are putting people to work.”

ACT — a nonprofit partnership of Central Florida construction industry contractors and trade associations representing both union and nonunion trade associations — provides youth with apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship curriculum in electrical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and other key areas. ACT is headquartered at Orange Technical College’s Mid Florida campus in south Orlando.

During the summer between their junior and senior year, students work with an industry partner as paid interns gaining valuable on-the-job experience. Students earn anywhere from $9 to $12 per hour, or about $3,600 for working in June and July. Many go straight to work in the industry after graduation.

“These students get to be mentored and have an opportunity to test drive this kind of work to see if this is an area that they might want to pursue,” Merced said. “They are literally working beside a licensed journeyman every day on a construction site and learning valuable skills that prepare them for a future career in the industry.”

Some 75 students annually take part in the summer internship program through OTC.

Another notable OTC program partners with the National Association of Women in Construction in providing a summer construction camp for high school women, an effort at building workforce diversity.

“Some of these young ladies had never held a hammer before taking part in this program, but by the time they’re done, they’re set to go into the construction business,” said Michael Armbruster, Orange Technical College’s senior executive director of career and technical education. And that, Armbruster said, includes careers as project managers, architects and engineers.

There’s also a short-term training program sponsored by partners Wharton-Smith Inc. and HZ Construction Inc. to prepare adults for working in construction in 10 weeks or less with their OSHA certification. More than a dozen adults took part in the new effort this past summer.

And at Ocoee High School in Ocoee and East River High School in Orlando, OTC programs offer the opportunity for students to learn the tools of the construction trade while giving them a leg up on apprenticeships if they decide to go that route.

“Our goal is to provide our youth with ample opportunities to find a career that interests them and that will enable them to provide for themselves and their families,” said Armbruster. “By working closely with our industry partners in creating these career pathways, we’re confident we’re meeting that goal.”